


A Home We Built

by thatcomicfan



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, OFC is a Mutant, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Romance, shameless flirting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 14:24:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14546646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatcomicfan/pseuds/thatcomicfan
Summary: They keep meeting each other and T'challa's smile and his eyes always disarm Evelyn. But she has a lot of work to do and she can't afford distractions.





	1. ONE

It was one of those strange days for Evelyn as she slipped her arm through her black fitted blazer and entered her office. A mutant, she could move things with her mind and most people who knew this had asked her if she was an avenger. She'd quietly shake her head and smile. Evelyn Ross worked for the CIA. And she was very proud of it. It did come with a few rules. Mainly that she couldn't use her powers in the field which made it necessary for her to train herself for combat. Although it didn't make much sense. Her powers could be useful. But maybe the world was getting tired of enhanced individuals. And as much as she liked the Avengers she didn't want to be a part of their team. She was happy taking out terrorist organizations. They could take care of the weird stuff.

This particular day had been odd simply because the winter soldier had resurfaced after being off the grid for two years. A lot of doubts crossed her mind when she thought about it. The winter soldier didn't really seem like someone who would be careless enough to get his picture taken. And why now? And why the UN? It really didn't make any sense. There was no rhyme or reason to it. But it happened and right now the captured assassin was on his way along with Captain America and one Sam Wilson. Tony Stark and the infamous Black Widow waited in the conference room as she looked through her emails.

Her phone buzzed. A text from her subordinate told her that the Wakandan Prince was involved in the mess somehow. T'challa. She recollected. The man had only recently lost his father. She didn't like it though. Involvement of a royalty would only make this already tangled mess even more tangled. Plus she wasn't really sure she wanted to deal with an entitled prince while they handled the Avengers problem. It was quite a shame though. These people, the Avengers had done a lot of good and while she wasn't apathetic to the people who lost their lives in the explosion in Lagos, she didn't like restricting the Avengers. Especially when they had saved the world from alien invasions and homicidal robots. But who was she to complain? She had a job that she wanted to do properly. And as of now, her job entailed arresting the men who had only now reached according to the ping from her phone.   
  
Evelyn walked out, straightening her blazer and met Sharon Carter halfway. She could see a glimpse of the winter soldier being taken into custody. He was kept in a glass box. Sharon introduced her to the Avengers.   
  
"This is Evelyn Ross. The deputy task force commander." Evelyn plastered a smile on her face but she doubted it was genuine. She already felt a hint of sarcasm flowing through her features even without her trying. "What will happen to him?" Steve Rogers asked without wasting a moment. Evelyn tilted her head and the smile faltered. Well, now she knew he wasn't in the mood for any formalities. This just became a lot easier. 

"The same thing that will happen to you. Psych evaluation and then extradition." Signaling Sharon to take the fugitives to their allotted rooms, she walked towards the Wakandan prince. "You should be more careful your highness," She smirked at him. "You could have compromised this mission."   
  
T'challa looked down at her and smiled even though she could see something menacing in those dark eyes. "From what I see, without me, your people couldn't have caught that man." Evelyn knew he was right but that didn't mean she wanted to bolster his ego further by admitting it. "And that's the only reason why there won't be any charges held against you. I got a look at your suit. Vibranium weave." She waited then, trying to gauge his reaction.  
  
Even though the Prince did not show it, he was impressed how she had already taken a good enough look at his suit and recognized the vibranium. Not many people had realized that on the first look. But then not many people had come close enough. "You should realize that this puts you under the court's jurisdiction. But I will keep this a secret for now."  
  
"What do you want in exchange for your discretion?" T’challa asked. He knew there wasn't any point in denying what she knew was true. He was simply glad she didn’t inquire much about vibranium. Evelyn turned around and asked him to follow her. "Not much right now. Just for you to stay in my office till everything is sorted out." She stopped, opening a door to her left. She turned to him and gave another sweet yet mocking smile. "Don't leave and don't get in my way." Her emerald eyes shone brightly and T’challa nodded. He could respect a woman like her. She only wanted to do her job. Stepping in, he scanned the office and realized that it was sans any personal belongings. No photographs or other trinkets. There was a laptop on the table beside a phone and a pen stand. He eyed Evelyn as she quietly gestured him to sit on a coffee brown couch right across from her workspace. She herself took a seat in her chair and switched her laptop on. She was probably writing a report on the mission but he couldn't tell. It was still very strange how there wasn’t a single family reminder anywhere in her office and T’challa considered asking. But then he had somewhat promised her that he won't get in her way. So he relaxed on the couch and pulled his own phone out.   
  
The pair had settled in a comfortable silence and there wasn't a single word spoken between them. T'challa looked up from his phone as Evelyn tried stifling a yawn and rubbed her eyes. She looked far too young to have reached to her rank in the agency. She must be exceptionally talented. He must have been staring too long and she must have noticed because now she was looking at him with an eyebrow arched up in question. "Do you want to ask me something, your highness?" She asked tucking her brown hair behind her ear. Evelyn didn’t feel flustered easily. But for some reason this man with his thick accent, dark eyes and calculated smile made shivers run down her spine. Beautiful as he was, she couldn't help but feel wary of him. 

T’challa, now broken out of his trance had to formulate a reason why he had been studying her face so intently. "I was wondering how a woman of your age made it this far into the agency." His question made Evelyn smile a bit and she slowly shut the lid of her laptop. "To put it simply I can do things not many people can do."   
  
T'challa frowned not entirely satisfied with her reply. "Like giving vague answers?" He quipped. A short laugh escaped Evelyn's mouth. T’challa felt something flutter in his chest. "It’s just that I'm not allowed to talk about it. But then I am already breaking rules today,” she shrugged, “I am a mutant."  
  
When T'challa nodded, clearly interested in learning more, she gestured to the doorknob and twisted it. He looked at the door and then back to her, impressed and a bit glad that she had chosen to show this part of her to him.  
  
They exchanged smiles before the power grid went out plunging them into darkness. "What the hell!" She mumbled as she opened a drawer. "Let me get my flashlight." T’challa wrapped his fingers around her slender wrist. "No time for that. We have to get out."   
  
The lights of the hallway were dimmed. Evelyn was thankful for the hand securely wrapped around her own wrist which kept her from falling or running into someone. It was all a chaos out there. Her feet came to a halt when she heard one of her subordinates speak to her in her earpiece. T'challa stopped too when he saw her expressions change from confused to horrified. "Barnes has escaped," she spoke when he looked at her questioningly. She felt his grip loosen on her wrist and realized he wanted to go after him but he still hadn't moved. "I won't say anything," she whispered when she realized what he needed to hear. "But we have to catch him."

The doctor who took Barnes's psych evaluation was nowhere to be found. But Evelyn was positive that he had done something terrible. Barnes had not resisted at all once he was caught. In fact, he appeared uninterested as if he couldn't care less what they did to him. And yet now when she and the prince saw him, he had been choking the black widow, not showing any signs of slowing down. Before she could move, T'challa ran towards them and kicked him. Natasha coughed as she clawed at her neck. Evelyn helped her stand up and rushed towards where their prisoner was still holding his own against T'challa. Barnes punched him in the stomach with his metallic fist and T’challa staggered back due to the blunt force. Rules be damned, Evelyn psychically forced Barnes to stay in a place, not letting him move. She almost had him levitating in the air before he freed his metal arm and threw a table at her. Her concentration from the soldier broke apart as she diverted it to the table to stop it from hitting her in the face. 

Evelyn bitterly realized that they had grossly underestimated Barnes and overestimated their personnel. Even T'challa, without his suit, was a bit rattled. He didn't stop though as he jumped over the railing looking for the escaped soldier. It didn't matter now. Secretary Ross was here and she was on her way to listen how incompetent she had been. She could argue that they had asked her to make sure T'challa didn't create any problems for them. But it didn't matter. He wanted to blame someone. She was the easiest target. 

To her relief, he was speaking to Stark while Natasha stood near them and the conversation was quite heated. She easily faded into the background. After Ross had left, she walked up to the pair. "You won't be able to find them in 36 hours. Well, not alone." Natasha looked at her and while she might have disagreed with Evelyn, she didn’t show a single emotion as to what she really felt. To Evelyn’s surprise, she nodded. "You are right Evelyn, can I call you that?" Natasha asked with a smile. She nodded.

"I saw you there. You’ve got some tricks up your sleeve," Natasha continued. "You could be helpful." Once she realized what Natasha was implying Evelyn shook her head, "I am walking on thin ice as it is with that stunt back there. My boss has already hit the ceiling with me. But I know someone who could be willing to help you guys out."

For the first time, Tony looked at Evelyn and regarded her with a tilted head. "As a matter of fact, I too have someone. Where's yours?" 

Evelyn intrigued, nonchalantly replied, "Downstairs. Yours?"

Tony gave her one of his classic smiles.  
  
Evelyn quietly waited for T’challa and his security detail near his car. When he did arrive, he gave her half a smile. The woman accompanying him didn’t look very happy though. "Move. Or you will be moved." Her voice almost made her believe that the woman will attack her any second.   
  
"As entertaining as that would be," T’challa interrupted although with a smirk. "Your people underestimate me," Evelyn said with a crooked smile. "Do not worry, Miss Ross. You impressed me even before I saw you in action." A small blush began to creep up on her face and neck on T'challa's blatant compliment. "Although Ayo doesn't find Americans much tolerable," he added, internally satisfied with Evelyn's reaction to his attempt at flirting. It was no secret that T'challa had always been a ladies man, even when he didn’t try. And Evelyn was a very impressive lady indeed. She smiled at him and shook her head seemingly agreeing with him. "I suppose not many people are fond of us right now."  
  
She cleared her throat, remembering the problems she had to face, being a mutant and all. Her smile faltered and she tried to get back at the matter at hand.  
  
"You're going to go looking for him, aren’t you?" T’challa tilted his head at Evelyn's question.  
  
"We could help each other."  
  
T’challa regarded her for a moment, an amused smile forming on his face even as he ignored the slight constriction he felt in his chest when she regained her professional tone.   
  
"You can get Barnes back if you collaborate with the Avengers. They can help you find him," she continued.  
  
"I can find him on my own. I have considerable resources," he replied, a mask replacing his smile. The same mask he would wear on diplomatic meetings. He thought maybe he wouldn't need it for her. But he was wrong, as she failed to realize his country's true potential and was asking him to work with the Avengers. He didn't hate them but he did dislike their unsupervised use of powers and skills which had landed them in all of this mess in the first place.   
  
He began to walk towards his car but Evelyn stopped him, slim fingers barely touching his bare forearm just below where he had rolled his sleeves up. T'challa thought he might have imagined it, but he felt warm and cold at the same time from where their skins touched. "It took the world 70 years to find Barnes. I'm not underestimating your resources but you could find him in maybe what, half the time?" She asked in a mock question.   
  
"You know where to find him?" He asked, tilting his head and regarding her with those dark eyes again. Evelyn felt her heart beat a bit faster yet again but she didn't budge. "I know someone who can."  
  
"And you won't be joining us?" He asked and she decided that the disappointment she heard in his voice was just her wishful thinking.   
  
"I am no avenger and right now it involves a lot of paperwork to be one. Plus you know the rules."  
  
T'challa yet again, spurred on by the waver in her voice, leaned just a little closer till he could feel her cool breath, "But it seems you've already broken the rules and used your powers on me."  
  
Evelyn tried to come up with a snarky reply but she couldn't as her mouth opened and closed and her cheeks tinted red from his shameless flirting. His eyes sparkled in mirth and she found that she couldn't stand the intensity of his gaze, yet she couldn't look away from his brown endless pools. Her voice shook when she replied, "Good luck on your mission."  
  
She cringed internally at how he had rendered her unable to come up with any cocky remark as she managed to walk away from him. She looked back just once trying to confirm in her head that their conversation wasn't something her stupid mind conjured up because she was infatuated with the king of Wakanda. T'challa was still looking at her with something in his eyes that she didn't dare decipher yet. She looked away immediately, smiling like a teenager who had just realized that her high school crush might reciprocate her feelings, which was in every way absolutely ridiculous. And yet if anyone asked her about that bounce in her step the rest of the day, she would brush them off because no, she is a professional and she doesn't skip through hallways because of cute boys.


	2. TWO

Evelyn sipped her coffee distractedly as she looked through yet another file on her desk. It had been more than a week now since the fight between Captain Rogers and Tony Stark. She hadn’t seen them since then and had only heard about the security breach in The Raft. All of the criminals had escaped, according to Secretary Ross. But she had not liked the word ‘criminal’ at all. Especially after they realized that Barnes wasn’t responsible for what happened in Vienna. It didn’t matter what she thought though. He was still bitter about the whole ordeal.

Her computer pinged and she smiled when she saw another mission update for her. After T’challa had left for the fight there hadn’t been any news of where he was and what he was doing. She guessed he had gone back to his country. After all, he was the king now. So she squished whatever hopes had arisen in her after their last conservation and went on to do her job. She took up more missions now and got the permit to use her powers in the field, but responsibly. They did not want another avenger-esque scandal on their hands.

She opened the mail. This mission was supposed to take her to Busan, South Korea for a transaction with Klaue. She grimaced. Why was her country hell-bent on making deals with this man despite his extensive criminal record? She scrolled through the document and the reason was written in black bold letters in front of her. Vibranium.

Evelyn sighed. As much as she loved her job and her country, she couldn’t get past how often her superiors blurred the lines between good and bad. But what could she do really? She was lucky they were allowing her to use her powers as it is.

South Korea had been welcoming as always. She tucked her dark hair behind her ear as she gave herself another look in the mirror. Klaue was going to be here soon, and she needed to be ready for him. She looked at herself and grimaced at how dolled up she was right now, all of it for the mission. After getting debriefed she realized that she won’t be posing as CIA to Klaue anyway. Another agent was supposed to carry out the dealings and she was supposed to be a starry-eyed woman who would make Klaue susceptible to making mistakes, if the need would arise, that is. CIA wanted the deal to go smoothly. But a man like Klaue was never to be trusted. Even though she was prepared for him, with a gun tucked in her thigh holster under her long silver dress, she felt a pit in her stomach. Maybe it was because she had been prohibited from using her powers here. She was in foreign land and using her powers could end horribly. She had obviously understood, didn’t mean she had to like it too.

Stepping out, she spotted her colleague, Ryan, at one of the tables and smiled flirtatiously at him. It was a part of her cover here. Once she was close enough, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “What took you so long?” he gritted out. She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand as if laughing at one of his jokes. “I was just checking something. Don’t worry he isn’t here yet,” she spoke in a soothing, sultry voice, “If he was we’d know.”

Her laughter died down when her eyes fell on a familiar face. Ryan noticed and raised an eyebrow at her. “Darling, please give me a minute.” She was about to walk away but he stopped her by grabbing her by the elbow and pulling her back. She glared at him, “Let go, we have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

She rolled her eyes, “The kind that I can handle. Wakandans, they are here. I knew it.” Of course, she’d find T’challa here. If the problem involved vibranium, then it involved the king of Wakanda. Again she understood it but didn’t mean she liked it.

“Take care of it now,” Ryan whispered and let her go. As she walked towards T’challa, her heartbeat sped up. After all this time, the prospect of having those dark eyes bore into hers again still had her becoming nervous. Life could be so unfair. He was a king, and he was beautiful. Plus, he had to go ahead and be a gentleman. And always be out of her reach.

Once she reached his table, she quietly stepped in beside him. “You should have a pretty lady on your arm for luck when gambling.”

T’challa looked at her with a smile, unfazed. “What are you doing here, _mnandi_?” he asked and she shook a little. His voice was still the same, heavy with the accent and so, so rich. “I am doing my job. What does that word mean?” He smiled as he placed his chips on the table. “What? _Mnandi_? You’d rather not know, trust me. What job is it?”

“The kind of job that isn’t your business,” she replied as the crowd around the table clapped. T’challa had won the round.

“Looks like you’re lucky for me, after all.” He moved away from the table and began walking towards the bar. Evelyn followed, “I know why you are here.” He turned to her, his eyes turning colder by the second. “And you are here for the same thing.”

She took a step towards him, lowering her voice, “I won’t let you get in my way.” T’challa took a deep breath, “Why does your country deal with this man, this criminal?”

Evelyn sighed, “He is the only supplier. But it doesn’t matter. I have my orders and I will follow them whether you like it or not.”

T’challa shook his head, chuckling, “I cannot stop you from doing your job. But I won’t let you stop me from doing mine.”

He left her and Evelyn knew that this wasn’t going to end well. Before she could take another step, she saw someone entering the casino from the corner of her eye, walking like they owned the place. Klaue was here and he was laughing and smiling.

Ryan immediately engaged with him. T’challa or his people hadn’t interfered yet. She decided to distance herself for now. Her eyes scanned the casino, trying to spot any Wakandans. All of a sudden Klaue’s men opened fire. She saw that it was directed towards a woman in a reddish dress. Her wig, made up of wavy hair came off and she brought out her staff. Evelyn had to force herself to peel her eyes away from the gracefulness in the woman’s movements. She was definitely skilled.

“I thought you said you could handle it,” Ryan’s voice came into the earpiece and she huffed in annoyance, “Well I was wrong. He is a king, why on earth would he listen to me.”

“What now?” he asked as she took her gun out after discreetly deflecting a few bullets that got fired in her direction. “Get the vibranium, that’s the priority,” she replied her arms stretched in front of her as she shot one of Klaue’s men.

It was all in vain, however. Klaue had successfully been escorted out of the casino by his men and T’challa had gone after him. But Evelyn couldn’t give up so easily. She rushed to her car and started the engine. She followed the cars but couldn’t interfere. There was a second woman with the one in the red dress and it seemed they could hold their own. She couldn’t let them get to Klaue first but it was clear to her that today just wasn’t her day. Without her powers, she had no advantage over the Wakandans. They seemed to be better equipped than her anyway. She had failed this mission as soon as T’challa had arrived.

It didn’t mean she would simply drive past the two women who had now lost their car in an explosion. Their faces told her that they weren’t expecting this. Even when she offered them a ride, they looked stunned. “I am a friend,” Evelyn spoke and gave them a weak smile. The woman in green nodded to her but the other one was miles away from believing her.

“What are your names?” she asked as silence filled the car. She already knew where T’challa was. It wasn’t very hard to figure it out with all the commotion that was going on. “Nakia,” the woman in the green dress said and Evelyn nodded and smiled. Faintly she saw Nakia elbow her friend and so she finally blurted out. “Okoye”

When they arrived, T’challa was in his Black Panther suit. It looked almost the same as the one she had seen before except for a necklace that adorned his chest. His claws were out and they were about to sink into Klaue’s neck. Okoye stepped forward and said something in her language. Whatever it was, it stopped T’challa and made him look around. There were people recording the whole ordeal in their phones. He retracted his claws and she took it as a cue to cuff Klaue’s hands behind his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mnandi: Sweetheart


	3. THREE

Ryan had just bought two cups of coffee from Starbucks as Evelyn stood beside T’challa outside the interrogation room. He handed one to her and she smiled at him. “He is your friend?” T’challa asked. She took a sip and sighed in happiness, “Coworker.”

He nodded and turned to look at Klaue who had been making kissing noises towards them. He laughed hysterically as he looked in their direction, “I can see you,” he spoke and laughed again. Evelyn balled her fist. She really wanted to punch him. “I will go now and talk to him,” she spoke as she placed the cup on a table. “And after that, you can talk to him. Cool?” T’challa didn’t reply but narrowed his eyes at her, making it difficult for her to maintain the eye contact. But then he smiled and nodded, “After your questioning, we will take him back to Wakanda with us.”

Evelyn groaned internally, “Your Highness,” she started but she was cut off by Ryan who stepped towards T’challa. “Hey man, he’s in our custody now,” he spoke as if he and T'challa had been friends for a very long time. She grimaced when she noticed Okoye stiffening. “I am doing you a favor just letting you stay here,” he said clapping the king on his shoulder. Okoye smiled and spoke directly to T’challa in their language and it almost sounded like an inside joke between them. But it was clear she didn’t like the way Ryan had touched her king. Evelyn looked at her, remembering the way she had fought in the casino. She decided to interfere, “Okay, we will see what to do after the questioning. But right now, I am going in.”

Before she entered the room, she stepped closer to Ryan and glared at him with everything she had, “Behave.”

Klaue smiled at her sickeningly when she entered and it made her stomach turn. “You look pretty chipper for someone who has been captured,” she spoke as she took a seat. He laughed, “It’s nice to see your government being fooled from time to time.”

Evelyn leaned forward and regarded him coldly, “I don’t think you understand your situation here. So let me explain it to you. You are handcuffed to a table right now. And outside is a man who wants to puncture every goddamn artery in your body. The only person stopping him from doing that is me. Now tell me, how did you manage to get your hands on a weapon like that?”

Klaue laughed again, his voice hoarse, “Do you really think that the man outside will wait for you before making his move? They are Wakandans. They are savages. You don’t know them like I do.” Evelyn rolled her eyes, “I think I know them enough.”

“No, little girl,” he leaned back and her eyes fell on the tattoos on his arms. She looked up at him and saw a sinister smile on his face. “You have no idea what they are capable of. My weapon is nothing compared to what they use. The vibranium I stole was just the tip of the iceberg. You have no idea how much they have and they use it for everything. They even stitch vibranium into their clothing.”

Evelyn swallowed. She knew what he was getting at. She had already seen the vibranium mesh in T’challa’s suit. But the way Klaue spoke of Wakanda, it seemed like there was a lot more to the country and its king than they had let on. But she couldn’t let him see that he had successfully planted a seed of doubt in her head. He was already a smug bastard.

She narrowed her eyes at him as she stood, “Don’t think you can talk your way around this Klaue,” Invisible tendrils of her power reached out and wrapped around his neck as she squeezed it and Klaue began choking. She didn’t use much force, her purpose was to scare him, not kill him. She let go after a few moments, causing Klaue to cough and heave. “You are one of the enhanced,” he panted. She smirked and left.

“Your Highness,” Evelyn gave T’challa a tight smile, “May I please have a word with you?” He noticed the tension in her voice and nodded. They walked to a corner and she gave him an icy look. “Who are you people exactly?” she asked.

“You know who I am.”

She sighed, “I know you are keeping secrets but there is a lot more going on here and I need to know what exactly I am dealing with right now. I have helped you in the past. Will you please show me the same courtesy?”

Her big green eyes pleaded with him and T’challa toyed with the idea of showing her Wakanda. He was sure her eyes would widen further in awe when she would see his country. But he cleared his throat. She was American Intelligence and he couldn’t take such a risk, whatever his heart might say.

“You would listen to a criminal who has just been arrested and question me?” he asked, arching his eyebrows at her and stepped closer to her. Evelyn saw the disappointment in his eyes and felt a pang of guilt in her chest. She tried to suppress it. He could be very manipulative but she needed to show him that she could resist it, resist him. She wasn’t about to be fooled. He could use every ounce of his charm but it wouldn’t work on her.

“T’challa,” she was cut off as Nakia entered the room. She was about to warn them of something but it was too late. An explosion had broken the wall of the room where Klaue was being held. There was a lot of firing and it seemed like all of it was happening in slow motion.

A bullet was directed right towards T’challa and all Evelyn could think was that he was about to get shot. She couldn’t really have that now, could she? Her hand moved in front of her as she gave a psychic push to his body. He fell far from where he was standing but then a searing pain in her back had her falling down on her knees. Evelyn cried out in pain as she tried to balance herself on her arms. From the corner of her eyes, she saw T’challa run out towards the alley where the explosion had taken place. “T’challa, wait,” she tried to call out to him but her voice came out as a mere whisper. Soon her vision became blurry and she gave up trying to stay awake.


	4. FOUR

The light above Evelyn’s head kept moving, irritating her out of her mind. She remembered this place, but only vaguely. It was probably one of those laboratories where she was researched on. The word tasted bitter in her mouth. She scoffed to herself. “Just a nice, scientific word for torture,” she mumbled. Her voice sounded like she had been drugged. But she couldn’t remember where or when. And then suddenly she was falling. The floor beneath her was gone and there was nothing but darkness. She felt a jerk before she opened her eyes.

Evelyn was lying on her stomach on a metallic surface which didn’t really feel like metal. It was soft. She groaned. Her back was a little sore and she didn’t know if she should move or just stay on this weird bed forever. She decided that she couldn’t really stay like this. She’d have to get up anyway to use the loo. That reminded her that she didn’t know where she was. Her body jerked awake as if it had suddenly perceived the danger it was in. Sitting up she rolled her neck and slowly, gingerly put her foot down. The floor was a bit cold and she hissed in pain when she tried to stand up properly. She remembered then that she was shot in her back. It was a bad wound from what she could tell. At least a week must have already passed if she was up and about.

Her surroundings looked suspiciously high-tech and she couldn’t tell where she was. It didn’t look like Stark’s lab. She’d see his suits otherwise. Instead, everything was quiet and compact. It was elegant. The slight beeps of machines were almost unnoticeable. She looked at her faint reflection in one of the glass windows. She was wearing a white dress from what she could tell, with intricate patterns on the neck. She suddenly realized that she didn’t have any pants on. Yet, the dress covered her well and reached way past her knees. Her reflection faded away and her eyes fell on some sort of a train that moved on the tracks with blue lights on either side. It moved unbelievably fast. “What the hell is this place?” she whispered to herself.

“Wakanda,” came a young feminine voice and she spun on her feet to come face to face with a young woman holding a tablet in her hand. “This is Wakanda?” Evelyn asked, stunned. This was far from a third world country. Obviously, she had understood that Wakanda was more advanced than what they had let others believe. But this was something else entirely.

“My brother brought you here after you were shot,” the girl said as she worked. “Your brother,” Evelyn wondered aloud, “T’challa?” The girl nodded and smiled. “My name is Shuri.”

“Evelyn Ross.”

“Yes, I know. My brother told me about you. The mutant,” Shuri spoke but paused when she saw Evelyn’s eyes turn away from her. “I am sorry. I know what your people did to you.”

She gave her a sad smile, “They tried to cure me of my disease for a very long time. When they failed, they decided that my disease was now a gift and if I served my country, I would be putting it to good use,” Evelyn realized that Shuri was probably just a teenager and not really interested in her sob story.

“But its fine now,” she tried to smile but couldn’t help the sinking feeling in her stomach when the girl looked at her sympathetically. She looked away, scanning the laboratory again. She felt like she had to take in every detail. “How long was I out?”

“Four hours,” Shuri replied and Evelyn looked at her, wide-eyed. “Okay, that’s not even possible.”

“It’s possible in Wakanda.”

“So you are awake,” T’challa’s voice boomed in the lab and Evelyn swiftly turned to him. “You brought me here to save my life?” she asked, her eyes narrowing at him. He nodded, seemingly confused by her question. “Why else would I bring you here?”

“To imprison me?” she suggested and he let out a chuckle. “I do not want to imprison you, _ncinane nye_. I had however hoped to show you Wakanda, but not like this.” Shuri gave a smirk but didn’t interfere while her brother spoke.

“What do you keep calling me?” Evelyn asked, “Are you making fun of me?” she narrowed her eyes. “And what does it mean you wanted to show me Wakanda?”

T’challa smiled at her, his eyes sparkling. Okoye approached them a moment later and Evelyn tensed further. She suddenly felt very vulnerable. She was in a foreign country and she had no way of contacting her people.

To her surprise, Okoye directed a smile towards her. Well, at least the formidable woman didn’t hate her now. “You were brave to save our King’s life. A little stupid as our king doesn’t need saving. But still brave,” she spoke to her and Evelyn sighed, that was a nice and not at all insulting way of showing gratitude but it was better than all the ice cold glares she had been receiving from Okoye since she met her. She smiled and nodded.

Okoye turned to T’challa the next second and her features became somber. She spoke to him in a hushed voice. It didn’t matter because Evelyn still didn’t know what language they spoke. Whatever news she brought had T’challa lose the playful nature that he had adopted with her just a second ago.

Evelyn decided to step forward and speak carefully, “Is everything okay?” T’challa looked at her and nodded to Okoye. She brought up a display of an African American man and Evelyn observed it carefully. “He is American,” she remarked. She had heard of him. More kills than anyone in the business. He was a ruthless man. “He is Erik Stevens. I remember being briefed about him in one of my missions. Never had the chance to actually meet the guy. What’s he done?”

“It is the King’s business,” another voice came and a man in a shawl stepped into the lab. “He has brought Klaue’s body to our borders,” he spoke to T’challa. Evelyn couldn’t believe her ears. Ulysses Klaue was finally dead. But from what she had heard, he and Erik were working together. “He wants to speak to the King,” the other man continued breaking her train of thought. T’challa nodded and gestured to Okoye.

“Shuri,” he looked at her sister, “Escort Miss Ross to my office.”

There was a kind of seriousness in T’challa’s tone that made Evelyn shiver. Something bad had happened. Or maybe, something bad was about to happen. She followed Shuri quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not sure about the language used in the movie. I know its called Xhosa but I have been using Google translate to use it in the story. So if I make any mistakes with the words please notify me. But as far as I know, 'ncinane nye' translates to 'little one'.


End file.
